Hand rail construction



Feb- 5 1957 F. vv. KRIEGER 2,780,440

' RAIL CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 4, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/gfZ Fig. 3

"Y fw /6` J TW l 341/" 20 my /a m nl 28 f 6a l [m/66 l L LLL x /2 A /2,48 sof @we J A Fred W Krieger f INVENTOR.

BY WW1 5mm @wana 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 `F. w. KRl-EGER r HAND RAILCONSTRUCTION Feb. 5, 1957 Filed Feb. 4, 1955 Fred W Krieger INVENToR.

BY wnwyMr-mm risult y coNsrRUcTioN Brothers, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application February 4, 1955, Serial No. 486,259 2Claims. (Cl. ISG- 21) This invention relates generally to new and usefulimprovements in hand or guard rails for porches, steps and any otherplaces where guard rails are necessary, and is more particularlydirected to a hand or guard rail construction which is readily assembledon the site of installation. l

Another object of invention in conformance with that set forth above isto provide a guard rail construction utilizing readily assembled partsincluding novel fastening means giving rise to a rigid, economical andsturdy construction.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of the novel railing;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially online 2--2 of Figure l with portions broken away;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially online 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken substantially online 4-4 of Figure l; and

Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken substantially online 5 5 of Figure l.

The novel railing construction is indicated generally at and includes aplurality of vertical support and securing posts 12 suitably supportedin a concrete foundation 14, for example, said vertical support members12 being connected at their top portions by the top horizontal hand railmembers 16 which extend therebetween, and including intermediatelythereof intermediate rail members 18. It is to be understood that all ofthe vertical support members 12 are of identical construction andaccordingly only one thereof will be described in detail. The materialto be utilized in the construction of the novel railing will be a metalof any suitable character to conform to the specifications of theparticular installation.

Secured at predetermined locations on the underside of the top hand rail16, depending upon the spacing of the vertical supports 12 are aplurality of lug elements 20 which includes a recessed portion 22 foraccommodating suitable fastening means 24 which may be Cherry rivets,suitable screws, etc. The lug elements will conform to the innerperipheral configuration of a tension tube 26 which is secured theretoby means of tap screws 28 in juxtaposition with the top rail member 16as indicated at 30. A spacing sleeve 32 'having an inner peripheralconfiguration conforming to the outer peripheral configuration of thetubular elements 26 is positioned thereon in a juxtaposition at itsupper portion with the hand rail 16 as indicated at 34. The intermediaterail Y18 includes plural apertures therethrough conforming to thespacing of the previously mentioned lugs 20. The plural apertures areidentified at 36 and 38, the aperture 36 conforming to the outerperipheral configuration of the tud, ,2,780,440 y Patented Feb. 5, 1957bular element 26 and the aperture 38 conforming to the outer peripheralconfiguration of a second tubular sleeve 4|)4 which conforms to that ofthe spacing sleeve 32. As seen in Figure 2, the intermediate rail 18 isplaced on the tubular sleeve 40 wherein the upper portions thereofadjacent the aperture 36 are in juxtaposition with the spacig sleeve 32as seen at 42 and underlies and supports the spacing sleeve 32. It willbe noted that the second tubular sleeve element 40 passes through theaperture 38 in the intermediate rail 18 and has its top end portion 44seating the inner surface of the rail member 18 adjacent the aperture 36to support the intermediate rail 18. Secured by a suitable weld 46, forexample, to the lower portion of tubular element 26 is a centrallytapped or threaded plug element 48. The second sleeve element 40 extendsbeyond the lower portion of the inner tubular elements 26 when it is injuxtaposition with the intermediate rail 18, and includes inside thereofon its lower end by means of a weld 50, for example, a stop plug element52 which has a central aperture 54 through which a bolt 56 is rotatabletherein, said bolt including the threaded end portion 58 whichcooperates with the thread 60 of element 48.

lt is believed readily apparent when the bolt 56 is tightened to turn todraw the threaded member 48 downwardly, the lower tubular element 40 andthe spacing sleeve 32 will be urged into tight engagement with theintermediate rail 18 and the top rail 16 thus providing a rigid andreadily assembled railing assembly.

After the railing has been assembled as heretofore de scribed, suitableslip llange members 62 may be provided, however, it is readilyperceptible that such slip ilanges are not necessary for retaining theinvention conforming with the objects set forth above. The slip ilangesmay include a lower angular flange portion 64 for contacting the supportsurface 14, and may be secured to the support elements 12 by means ofsuitable securing elements, such as screws 66 passing through anupwardly extending flange portion 68 of the slip ilange element, saidscrews also passing through suitably aligned apertures in the tubularelements 26 and 40.

Although this invention has been disclosed with the various structuralelements indicated as having a particular configuration, it is to beunderstood that the inventive concept disclosed herein may be utilizedwith any tubular elements, regardless of their configuration, thus theelements for forming the heretofore disclosed novel railing may have across sectional configuration of a square, rectangular, oval, ellipse,circle, etc.

The various positional directional terms such as front, rear, top,bottom or any other terms of this character are intended to have only arelative connotation to aid in describing the device and are notintended to be permanent as requiring any particular orientation withrespect to any external elements.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limt theinvention to the exact construction and operation shown and described,and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may beresorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

l. ln a rail assembly, a tubular support comprising a lower member, anintermediate hollow rail having a bottom aperture fitting around saidlower member and also having a top aperture providing a circular edge onthe intermediate rail seating on the upper end of said lower member,said support further including a spacing sleeve having a lower endseating on said edge of the intermediate rail, an upper rail seating onthe upper end of said spacing sleeve, a tension tube slidably tting insaid lower member and spacing sleeve and in said top aperture and havingan upper end juxtaposed to said upper rail, means in said tension tubeand on said upper rail securing said upper rail to the upper end of saidtension tube, and screw feed means in the lower ends of said lowermember and tension tube for sliding said tension tube downwardly totightly seat the top rail on the upper end of the spacing sleeve andthereby tightly seat the lower end of the spacing sleeve on said edgeand said edge on the upper end 10 of the lower member.

2. The combination of claim 1, said screw feed means comprising a pairof plug members fitting in and secured rto the lower ends of the tensiontube and lower member,

and a screw bolt connecting said plug members.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,557,002 Lathrop June 12, 1951

